Category Archives: Sustainability

1. My stove, Mr Hartman doesn’t always light up easily.
2. Fire starters work but it gets expensive.
3. Candles leave a lot of leftovers.
4. Egg cartons can be used for more than planting seeds.
5. Corks look like pellets to make a fire.

Solution:

Of course I made firebombs! The best firebombs ever – out of trash. It’s fun, doesn’t take any time really and I get that tricky stove going every time…Never had to use more than 2 bombas, even when Mr Hartman was his grumpiest.

Besides which, they are pretty with colors and scents sort of built in, always different 🙂

Over the past couple of years I have watched the internet explode with posts and articles about multimillion dollar companies exploiting us and the Earth. There are outrageous outcries about cracking, GMO foods, chemtrails, cruelty to animals…Just to mention a few.

Yes, I agree. But it didn’t happen overnight, did it? We are all responsible for this, we allowed it to happen. I can’t remember hearing more than vague murmurs during most of my life. And the people who complained back in the 60’s and 70’s when it was still ”sort of” reversible, were stamped as hippies, new age-people and ”green-wavers” which, at the time, was not a compliment. They were idiots to not get on the band-wagon of consumerism…Who on earth would ever want to go back to ”the old way of living”? Only crazy people. The Brave New World had finally come to mankind…

No to atomic power

On March 23, 1980 there was a vote about nuclear power in Sweden. There were 3 options, none of them was for keeping or expanding nuclear power. This was a really hot subject and I remember demonstrations all over the country. People were divided, a lot of people really wanted nuclear power and there was fighting in the streets. This was a massive happening.

The options were:

1) Nuclear power is phased out at a pace that is possible given the need of electrical power for maintaining employment and welfare. (18.94%)

2) Same as option nr 1 but with the addition of excess profits in hydropower production are redeemed through taxation. All future energy facilities of significance would be owned by the state and municipalities.(39.12%)

3) No to the continued expansion of nuclear power and the decommissioning of the reactors in operation within maximum ten years.(38.65%)

Option number 3 won, people rejoiced…

30 years later, March 22, 2010 (note the date), the government declared a new proposition saying:

”Nuclear power – more responsibility and opportunities for generations. Those old units shall, with the fulfillment of certain conditions, get replaced by new ones on the same site as the old”

I haven’t heard any complaints, people are not hitting the streets to demonstrate against this proposition which is actually overriding what was decided through a democrative vote…YAY democracy…

Where are all those people who were protesting back in 1980? The people that really thought it mattered, that cared enough to take to the streets to make themselves heard? Maybe they are all dead or maybe they are just mumbling in their warm houses in front of the wide-screen telly, I don’t know. I do know that they are being very loudly horrified by Fukoshima, even more than they were about Tjernobyl, which actually hit Sweden rather badly.

It’s a sad state of affairs, but the truth.

It’ same, same with almost everything; if it’s there, we’ll use it indiscriminately…God forbid that our comfort or consumer hunger would be threatened. Water, anyone?

I suggest you take the time to read this article as it pertains to global health. The more we inform ourselves on important issues, the better choices we can make. It used to be possible to hide your head in the sand, like the ostrich, but those days are gone forever. Now everybody needs information and knowledge to understand how to survive into the future, not only as a country or a people, but as a world. You might not be hit by this, but your children definitely will be. So inform yourself and take a stand, at one point your opinion will be called upon.

I get so many questions about natural skin care and how to find stuff that is not full of chemicals. Some raw materials take some studying up on to understand how to use and blend, or they are not always so easy to find, but there is plenty of stuff you can make yourself with really simple ingredients that you either already have in your home or that are easy to find in your local health food store. Here is one wonderful product that I use. It is very mild and can be used 1-2 times per week. You can make up the powder and store it cool and dark in a jar with tight-fitting lid which will save you a lot of work. When it’s time to use, you just add the other ingredients to make a paste. Easy!

What you need for the powder:

1 dl Organic oatmeal

2-5 teaspoons dried lavender flowers or rose petals. If you use rose petals, add the larger amount to get a nice scent. For my blend I use 2-3 tsp lavender flowers. I prefer the lavender during the summer as it is really soothing and has a wonderful scent.

What you need for the paste:

Coldpressed vegetable oil, I use sunflower

Hydrosol of lavender, rose or witch hazel. If you don’t have hydrosol, you can use a herbal infusion or water.

Organic lemon

A bit of honey (optional)

If you like, you can add a drop or two of essential oil to the finished paste (optional), I don’t because I want it really mild and the floral scent is gorgeous on its own.

Really simple and easy-to-find ingredients

Step one:

In a mixer or a mortar, crush oatmeal and dried flowers to a powder, the finer it is, the better it will spread.

Step two:

When it’s time for a scrub, peeling or a mask: For a facial, mix 1 tsp of the powder with 1/2 tsp vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp hydrosol, infusion or water, a few drops of lemon juice and a dash of honey. Mix it all together to a paste. If you want to use it on your whole body you need to make about 4-5 times the amount of paste.

On clean, moist skin apply the paste with circular massage movements, you want to get the circulation going. This is the peeling effect. Now you can wash it off or leave the paste on for about 15 min to get a deeply moisturizing mask before you wash it off with lukewarm water. Pat dry and apply a light oil to your face to add more yummy nourishing food for your skin (sunflower, thistle, jojoba, grape seed oils are easy to get and fine for your skin).

Dried rose petals

One last point; When you make stuff at home for your skin care, always use organic products. If you want your powder to look more beautiful, add some whole flowers or petals to get some colour in there.

You know how I am always ranting about the dangers of fake sugars and how nobody in their right mind should ever use them? Part of that is a deep gut feeling that it is bad, seriously bad; a health-hazard, and part is from reading a lot of reports. Problem is that it is FDA-approved which means that most people think it’s safe…It’s not! Aspartam is used in so many products that you have to go through the ingredient listings on all prefabricated food-stuffs to check if it is there. And you really don’t want your children to ingest this stuff! I can pick up the taste no matter how low the dose, there is something definitely dodgy about it, it actually tastes toxic.

On Sunday afternoon I found myself inviting some friends for dinner and then realizing there was nothing in the house…Not a very clever move on a Sunday, but I got all excited about seeing them and hanging out on the terrace so I didn’t think straight. But even the emptiest cupboards (and freezer) can unearth the makings of a meal, all that is needed is some creativity 🙂 Ok, not much to be creative with, but pizza is always possible, everybody loves pizza so I made pizza.

Pizza dough; I have been experimenting with different variations and have found the ultimate one; Quick, easy, cheap and delicious. You really get that crispy crust feel. Earlier variations I tried always turned soggy and I hate that, besides they were much more time-consuming. This recipe is done in max 30 min from start to finish.

5 dl flour, any flour. I used whole wheat because that’s what I had. + flour for working the dough.

1 tbsp veg. oil (I use olive-oil because I love the taste)

1 tsp salt

HOW TO: Mix all the ingredients together till you have a nice dough that doesn’t stick, Cut into 10 pieces and roll into balls. On a well-floured worktop, use a rolling-pin and make flat round breads, the thinner, the better. You need quite a bit of flour for this work. Pile the flat breads on a board and when all are done, fry them in dry frying pans (no fat needed here) for a couple of minutes on each side. You might have to experiment a bit with the heat, if it’s too high the flour will burn. Put them on a rack to cool. These flat breads are brilliant. They freeze well, thaw quickly and can be used for wraps, tortilla, sandwiches…whatever your creativity calls for.

Tomato sauce: I always have tomato sauce in the freezer, I make big batches, it freezes really well and can be used with most anything. If you don’t have home-made tomato sauce, don’t fret, you can get it out of a tin; either you get the smooth strained tomato puré or you start out with tomato-pieces and then whizz them with a machine (mixer) to a nice smooth sauce. Home made tomato sauce made simple:

HOW TO: Fry onion and celery till soft-ish in olive-oil, add tomatoes and let simmer for about 2 hours. Blend it with a mixer, add salt, pepper and whatever other spices you might like.

For the pizza; mix in some olive oil and fresh (or dried) oregano into the cold tomato sauce, add salt, pepper (and spices) as needed or wanted.

Cheese: Very important (for me), you need that melted tasty yummy feel to the pizza, you know when the cheese turns into long strands like spaghetti. Again, this is something I always have in the freezer; shredded cheese. It’s a great way to use up all those boring end-bits that nobody wants to eat. If you have kids, you’re going to end up with loads of them; shred ’em and freeze ’em.

Topping: You can use anything you like, except potatoes. I tried that once and it was awful. Just take whatever bits and pieces you have, cut it up and lay it on there; onions, veggies, meats, cheeses…whatever. It is like the great fridge-cleaning session made delicious 🙂 You know, the stuff that would never ever be enough for a meal, not even for somebody very small and not hungry.

For this event I had some good bacon, some nice italian salami, peas and onion, so that’s what I used. Bake in oven on 250-300 degrees Celsius or in a wood-stove or on the BBQ. Whatever takes your fancy. Before serving I topped off with freshly chopped parsley and oregano from the garden. This is fast food made slow. By having the stuff in the freezer it is even made fast. Vegetarian? cut the meat. Gluten free? no problem. No dairy? skip the dairy-bits. This is a very healthy meal.

Mother Earth is suffering, worse, she’s seriously sick, and she needs help NOW. Right this minute and every minute after that for as long as you can imagine. This is reality. Mother Earth is our life-support and when she suffers, we suffer. She is ill and so are we. The question is; what are you prepared to do, or give up, to save her…And yourself?

It is daunting, isn’t it? Multinational corporations that can’t be touched, using up, polluting and destroying our world. We feel very small in their shadow. We rave and we rant, looking for “clean” solutions, which is good but only goes so far. We live in a world where we take the results of this destruction for granted; electricity, fuel for our cars, foods from everywhere in our corner-shop, new machines, technology…Most everything that we use and feel we need – Every day! What are you prepared to give up? Will you exchange your car for a cleaner alternative, or maybe start commuting? Will you stop buying stuff? Will you turn off your electricity even though it is not a question of economy? Will you keep your old telly, computer, stereo, phone that still works fine and forego the fancy new model? Will you start repairing your old clothes instead of buying new? Everything is limited and everything has a cost. There is no such thing as unlimited resources.

Earth Hour; one hour per year people turn of their electricity to make a stand for Mother Earth; that’s one hour out of 8 760 hours in a year. Why am I not impressed? A lot of people won’t even do this one hour, I have heard some of the comments; “what should I do for one hour without my machines…?” And during this one hour, closed stores are still lit up like Christmas trees so we can look through the window and drool over all the stuff we think that we need or want.

People; if you want change, you will have to be the change. We are all consumers and as such we hold tremendous power. The multinational corporations might seem daunting and we stand before them as Don Quixote before the windmills. But we are the world! Every little person put together become the ruler, but only if we are prepared to put it into action. So again; What are you prepared to give up for life?